


Last Kiss

by PezzieCoyote



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: M/M, So sorry to write this sadness but I needed to, sad fic, this is therapy for me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 05:00:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26569963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PezzieCoyote/pseuds/PezzieCoyote
Summary: He left one last sweet kiss on his husband's lips.
Relationships: Daryl Dixon/Jesus
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	Last Kiss

Paul knew something was going on with Daryl. His husband was usually up and around, tinkering with a car or doing something for their kids, but he was just sat there on the couch, staring at the tv. 

"Hey, baby, you want something to eat," he asked.

"Hmm?" Daryl turned his head towards his younger husband.

"Do you want something to eat?"

Daryl turned back to the tv. "Nah."

He didn't say anything else. Paul just gazed at him, his worry growing. 

Paul and Daryl had been married for nearly thirty years now. They'd met one day when Paul brought his dog into the vet's office where Daryl was working. They'd hit it off right away and were married less than a year later. It had taken many years but they were able to adopt two kids, a boy Elijah and two years later, a girl Riley. 

Daryl had worked at the vet's office for several before his boss Hershel Greene decided to retire and offered to sell the business to Daryl. He'd owned the business for nearly twenty-five years now and it was more successful than ever. He'd cut back on his hours at the office, wanting to spend his time more with his husband and kids. Elijah had just started college and Riley was still in high school, having just started the eleventh grade.

It was worrisome to Paul that Daryl had been forgetting things lately. It was only small things but still. Like neglecting an appointment here, or an outing there. Paul had been almost walking on eggshells because he didn't know what to do or how to approach him anymore.

"Daryl."

The man in question just stared straight ahead. Paul stepped closer to the couch. 

"Daryl."

After a minute, he was standing next to him. He gently shook Daryl's shoulder. 

"Daryl."

Daryl slowly turned his head to look at Paul. 

"Who's Daryl?"

Alarm filled Paul. He knelt down in front of his husband. "Daryl, do you know who I am?"

Daryl's blue eyes bored into Paul's. He slowly shook his head. "No, who are you?"

Tears filled Paul's eyes at the sound of Daryl's slurred speech. He scrambled back and hastily grabbed his phone. He quickly called for an ambulance.

"911, how may I help you?"

"I think my husband has had a stroke."

"Why do you think this?"

Paul cried, tears falling down his face. "He's slurring his words and he doesn't recognize me."

"I'll send an ambulance right away."

Minutes later, Daryl was strapped to a stretcher, being assessed in the ambulance. He watched as the attendants took his blood pressure and checked his sugar levels. 

"His BP is dangerously high. Has he had an issue with that?"

Paul wiped his face and pulled his hair back. "He has in the past but not recently."

"It's 201 over 108. We have to go now, are you coming with?"

Paul nodded, his face white, hastily climbing in the vehicle.

***

Paul finally stopped pacing, flopping into a chair. He'd called his son and daughter and they were both on their way. 

"Dad, what's going on?"

Paul looked up, seeing his daughter coming towards him. She engulfed him in her arms as tears leaked from Paul's eyes. He pulled back and sat Riley next to him. 

"I don't know what happened. He was just sitting on the couch, didn't answer me. He didn't know who I was."

Riley's eyes widened. 

"I think he had a stroke."

"Oh my god dad."

"They have him taken for some scans but we won't know anything yet."

Riley hugged into her father again. "When's Lija getting here?"

"I don't know. Guess it depends on the traffic."

Paul held his daughter for a long time. He thought that many even hours had passed. In that time, Elijah had arrived and was updated on everything. He sat on the other side of his father, holding him, the three covered in sorrow and confusion. 

It was a few hours later when someone came to speak to them.

"I'm Dr Raleigh, I'm the first assistant to Dr King. He's still with Mr Dixon."

"How is my husband?"

Dr Raleigh, an average heighted man with curly rust colored hair, sat next to the family. "I'm afraid the news isn't good. Daryl had a significant stroke, caused by a blood clot in the brain. He has severe weakness on his right side and isn't moving that side of his body much. He's breathing on his own so he won't be intubated yet."

Elijah broke it. "He has a DNR. He doesn't want resuscitation."

The man nodded. "We have someone tracking down his file and we'll find the document there I'm assuming?"

The three family members nodded. 

"He's awake but his eyes aren't responding to any stimuli. There's a lot of swelling in the brain and the scan shows that there is bleeding in the brain. The bloodclot is about the size of a grape and has caused a lot of damage. Since we don't know exactly when the stroke occurred, that side of his brain, the left side, was without oxygen and blood for several minutes at the least. Because of this, the cells have started to die."

Tears fell down Paul's face as he gripped his children's hands in his. "What does that mean?"

The doctor's face conveyed sorrow for them. "He's breathing very heavily. It's very labored, as if he'd run a marathon. His BP is still dangerously high. It hasn't come down at all since he's been here. With part of his brain having died already, his body has to overcompensate for the breathing process. I'm so sorry. It doesn't look good."

"He's going to die?" Riley asked, her voice small and shaky.

"When brain cells die, they don't regenerate. A person cannot live a productive life with half a brain. It's only a matter of time. I"m so sorry."

Paul couldn't speak. He heard Elijah ask if they could see their papa and Paul stood to follow. At the sight of his beloved husband, he nearly collapsed to his knees. His beautiful husband was hooked up to so many wires. He had a feeding tube in through his nose, the oxygen tube into his nose. He had a blood pressure cuff around one arm while the other arm–

"Why is he restrained?" Paul asked the doctor.

"He was attempting to pull the tubes out. We had to restrain that wrist to prevent that."

Paul nodded. Made sense.

"He's on a saline drip as well as some painkillers. If he wakes up, I don't believe he will be able to speak. He may not recognize you. If you need to ask me anything, just get the nurse and she'll track me down. Alright?"

The three family members nodded absently. Riley was already holding her papa's left hand. Paul could see him squeezing Riley's hand, making his tears begin anew. 

"Um."

The doctor turned back. 

"How long will he be like this," Paul asked.

"Until the swelling in his brain goes down, we really don't know. We've been putting blood pressure pills in through the IV to help bring it down but it hasn't helped so far."

Paul nodded and went back to his family; Dr Raleigh left the room. Riley moved to let her dad stand next to the bed. He took Daryl's hand, bending down to kiss it.

"Hey baby. It's Paul. Riley and Elijah are here too. We love you so much."

He felt his son put a chair behind him, urging him to sit down. He did and immediately broke down crying.

**

Paul was jarred out of sleep by the ringing of the phone. He glanced at the clock before answering. 2:14.

"'Lo?"

"Mr Dixon, this is Dr Raleigh from the ICU. You should get back here as soon as you can. Your husband's taken a turn for the worst."

Paul didn't remember hanging up the phone. Doesn't remember hastily pulling on his clothes. Doesn't remember getting his son and daughter up and awake. Doesn't remember getting in his car and driving to the hospital. They got in the elevator, got to the third floor and headed towards the room Daryl was in.

It was stark. All the machines that were hooked up were gone. Daryl was laying there, still. 

"He passed shortly after I called you. I'm so sorry."

Paul nearly fell to his knees, the tears pouring out of his eyes. Elijah and Riley hugged into him, their own tears falling. It took a long time, maybe hours, for Paul to rise to his feet again. He neared the bed and touched Daryl's hand, noting how cold to the touch he already was. 

"Oh baby, I'm gonna miss you so much."

He left one last sweet kiss on his husband's lips before they left the room.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in about twenty minutes. It's something I needed to do, as the way Daryl died is the exact same way my mother died two days ago. My mom had a massive stroke and never came around. The hospital is an hour away and we got the call at 2:14 in the morning. Unfortunately for us, she was gone by time we got there.


End file.
